Recently, in the aim of sharing and consolidating storage resources, a Storage Area Network (SAN) is established using a Fibre Channel (FC) switch connecting servers and storage devices. Upon establishing a SAN, a host bus adapter (HBA) installed in a server is physically connected to a Fiber Channel adapter (FCA) installed in a storage device.
SAN management software enables an operator to manage a SAN by observing an interface graphically displaying physical connections between devices (servers, FC switches, and storage devices) in the SAN, or access path definitions (logical connections) on a screen of a terminal device. For example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2002-063063 and an online document “ETERNUS SF Storage Cruiser” (searched on Mar. 20, 2007 at the URL http://storage-system.fujitsu.com/jp/eternus-sf/cruiser/merit/) disclose a SAN management system using such SAN management software. An access path herein means a logical connection that allocates a storage resource to a server over a SAN. An HBA and a FCA are generally connected logically in a one-to-one relationship. As disclosed in another online document “Common HBA API” (searched on Mar. 20, 2007 at URL ftp://ftp.t11.org/t11/docs/02-149v0.pdf), some of the SAN management software have a function to enable an access path definition to be automatically set in a new HBA when a logical connection between an existing HBA and a FCA is lost, e.g., when an HBA fails and is replaced with a new one.
Such SAN management software has a function to cause LEDs on an HBA to emit light in predetermined light emission patterns so that a user can visually recognize and distinguish the HBA from others. Such a function has been used for enabling a field engineer to visually identify the physical location of a specific HBA. For example, the function has been used by a field engineer upon inspecting or replacing an HBA while the chassis of a server is actually opened. More specifically, when the SAN management software receives a request for identifying the physical location of an HBA from an administrator, the SAN management software issues a predetermined command to an HBA driver that controls the HBA. In response to the received request, the HBA driver controls the LEDs on the HBA to emit light in specific patterns. Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2004-103053 and Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2005-242915, for example, disclose a technology that allows a field engineer to visually recognize and distinguish a part from others in an apparatus having a plurality of parts emitting light from light-emitting components thereof.
However, these conventional technologies do not allow the physical location of a failed HBA to be identified. More specifically, when the SAN management software receives a request for identifying a physical location of an HBA from the administrator, the SAN management software outputs a command to cause the LEDs on the HBA to emit light in specific patterns; however, if the HBA is in an abnormal condition and failed in the first place, the HBA may not operate according to the command. In such a situation, the light emission patterns do not allow a field engineer to visually recognize and distinguish the HBA from others, thus preventing the engineer actually being on-site from identifying the physical location of the failed HBA.